Award RibbonUpon completion of this campaign you will recieve this fine ribbon to decorate your profile page and act as a link back to this page.

Seeing Red 2005This award signifies that the holder has successfully completed a important project for the Rodina! Said builder has achieved victory in the face of adversity from the decadent West and has met or exceeded both build requirements and deadlines. Political officers shall see to the awarding of the ribbon, Komrades.

Operational OverviewCampaign Mission: To build ANY Soviet/Russian vehicle during ANY era for any or all genres (i.e. sea, land, air or space) and have it done by May Day (9 May 2005).

The Rules and RegsRequirements:

1) Build at least one Soviet/Russian built vehicle in Soviet/Russian/Warsaw Pact markings ONLY
2) Build can either be out-of-the-box or make use of aftermarket/photoetch parts (OOTB is ENCOURAGED)
3) Record build progress with in-progress pictures and campaign log journal entries
4) Post picture of complete work on or before May Day (9 May 2005).

Contest ElementReward:

1) One who successfully fulfills the minimum requirements as stated above would get a medal (READ EDIT #1 30.12.4)
2) One who successfully builds a subject for all four genres (sea, land, air and space) will get a SPECIAL MEDAL for EXEMPLARY DUTY FOR THE MOTHERLAND. (READ #! 30.12.4)
3) A clear conscience for having leveled the playing field for the Soviet/Russian Sphere of Influence against the "usual subjects" (i.e. Allied WW2, German WW2, NATO modern)

Political Officer's Morale Address:

Comrades, long has Mother Russia's military overshadowed by the West in the modelling world. Every year passes with German WW2 theme leading in popularity among model subjects, with Allied WW2 and NATO modern close behind. Every year we have seen new releases of the usual suspects (i.e. German WW2, Allied WW2, and NATO modern), leading to a homogenous lineup in hobby shops, which in turn spurs the manufacturers in producing such "cash crops" much to the sacrifice of variety. Indeed, seeing yet another Tiger or Pzkpfw variant is most disconcerting (especially considering that it is Germany that lost The Great Patriotic War), or another Sherman variant. And this despite the wide range of interesting modelling subjects which the design bureaus of Mother Russia have been churning for decades. Indeed, how often do you see a BRDM model in the shop? Or an accurate T-72M1? There are alot of subject Mother Russia offers. There is the T-80 with all its dizzying variants; the T-90, successor of the T-72 and current main battle tank of choice in the Red Army; there is the Su-27 and its follow-on variants; and who could forget the former second most powerful navy in the world, with its very fierce looking ships like the Kynda, Slava and Kirov battlecruisers? In space, the Mir Space Station was mankind's sole outpost in the final frontier for more than a decade. And yet, where are such subjects? Where is the T-90? Where is the Su-35? Where is Salyut? Where is the Delta IV? Is there ANY accurate T-80 kit out there? You cannot find them in most hobby shops. And if you do find them, they exist only in resin or aftermarket conversion kits which would empty your wallet (despite having made a second mortgage on your home).

It is high time to spur interest in this genre that has been relegated to the deep corners of Siberia. It is high time to show the world the dizzying array of unique subjects Mother Russia has to offer. Indeed, it is time to get the attention of manufacturers that yes, there IS a market out there for subjects that had the Red Star emblazoned on their steel skins.

So comrades, DO participate in "Seeing Red". Ensure that you complete your models for this campaign. DO spread the word! Building your subject out-of-the-box is encouraged - this will not only ensure you finish your subject well ahead of May Day, but will also whet your appetite for another Soviet/Russian subject. Build one or several subjects, and you get a medal. Build one subject for all four genres and you get a special medal, the esteem of your colleagues, and pride in the fact that you managed to reduce your pile of unbuilt Soviet/Russian kits (if you have had such pile in the first place).

So comrades, let us see to it that "Seeing Red" be one of Armorama's successful campaigns to date. Let us ensure that on May 9, Armorama will have its own 'virtual May Day parade', complete with fly-bys and naval exercises.

Good luck and God save the Rodina!

(cue in Russian National Anthem)

EDIT #1 30.12.04: UPDATE ON MEDALS

Apparently comrades the Defense Minister has told me that we are allowed only one ribbon/medal. Nonetheless, I shall endeavor to have a fine medal, gaudy enough to make anyone unable to absolutely resist clicking on it on your profiles so that they will all see your great projekts for this campaign! :-) I do hope that all will be given the title of "Heroes of the Rodina"!

EDIT #2 31.12.04: REFERENCE LINKS

Comrades, I present to you the following links for your use as reference for your projekts -

http://armor.kiev.ua/fofanov/Tanks/ - Vasiliy Fofanov's Modern Russian Armour Page
http://armor.kiev.ua/ - A Russian-language site on armour
http://www.algonet.se/~toriert/ - 'Red Steel', a web site dedicated for Soviet WW2 armour (apparently it brings you to an index page with pix)
http://www.geocities.com/Pentagon/Bunker/1337/ - Valery Mukhin's Page which has pix of Russian/Soviet armour
www.army-technology.com - Lots of pix of modern Russian ground equipment
www.airforce-technology.com - Lots of pix of modern Russian air equipment
http://www.aeronautics.ru/index.htm - Some info on Russian military equipment including latest news
http://www.thetankmaster.com/english.asp - Has reference pix of several Russian/Soviet military equipment
http://www.battlefield.ru/map.html - Soviet Tank Development page
http://www.tankmuseum.ru/index_e.html - Tank Musuem at Kubinka. (Thanks to Rafterman for the link)
http://submarine.id.ru/thumbs/index.html - I think it's translated as "Russian Submarine Fleet"; site is in Russian (thanks to Skipper for the link)
http://www.sovietsub.co.uk/gallery.html (Direct link to gallery of above-mentioned site)
http://www.aeronautics.ru/archive/fleet/russian/941.htm
http://www.ckb-rubin.ru/eng/index.htm
http://deepstorm.v-real.ru/ (The last three links courtesy of Skipper)

EDIT #3 27.3.05: MORE REFERENCE LINKS
http://use-weapon.astral.kiev.ua/arm_tanks.html
(this link is a bit unusual in that it actually is a SALES site for soviet/ex-soviet military equipment I believe - link courtesy of TreadHead)
http://www.moninoaviation.com/
(this is a very nice site IMHO that carries photos of many strange and wonderful past and present soviet aircraft including some that most of us have never seen - link courtesy of TreadHead)
http://aeroweb.lucia.it/~agretch/Monino/MoninoImages.html
(more aircraft photos - link courtesy of TreadHead)
http://legion.wplus.net/
(another pretty cool page, but in Russian. It says it's got an 'English' button, but couldn't get it to work - link courtesy of TreadHead)

More links to reference sites will be added. People with reference links can PM me or post them at any Seeing Red thread, and I shall incorporate them here. Spasiba!

IMPORTANT ANNOUNCEMENT!!!!!!!!! ALL COMPLETED WORKS PLEASE POST PHOTOS IN FOLLOWING THREAD: http://www.armorama.com/modules.php?op=modload&name=SquawkBox&file=index&req=viewtopic&topic_id=50879&page=1

Campaign DebriefingA MOST EXCELLENT OPERATION COMRADES! YOU HAVE MADE THE PEOPLE OF MOTHER RUSSIA VERY PROUD OF HER GLORIOUS SONS AND DAUGHTERS WHO HAVE FOUGHT AT THE FRONT! PARIS IS OURS, THE ENGLISH CHANNEL IS FILLED WITH OUR AMPHIBIOUS SHIPS, ENGLAND QUAKES, AND THE ATLANTIC IS BRIMMING WITH OUR SUBMARINES! FOR ALL THOSE WHO FINISHED THEIR ENTRIES ON TIME, CONGRATULATIONS AND GOOD WORK! THE CAMPAIGN RIBBON WILL BE GIVEN AS SOON AS THE POLITBURO DESIGN COMMITTEE MOVES ITS COLLECTIVE ARSES AND FINALIZES THE RIBBON! :-)

AGAIN, CONGRATULATIONS AND I HOPE YOU ALL HAD FUN!

- From the 2,382nd political officer (the 2,381 others were shot for incompetence hehehehe)